Walker County Texas Historical Markers

The Presbyterian Church established Austin College in Huntsville in 1849 and erected this structure in 1851-52. Austin College moved to Sherman in 1876, and in 1879 this building was deeded to the state for use by the newly-established Sam Houston . . . — — Map (db m66311) HM

Camp Huntsville, completed here in 1942, was one of the first prisoner of war (POW) camps built in the U.S. during World War II. Designed to house 3,000 POWs, it had more than 400 buildings, as well as eight branch camps. The first POWs, part of . . . — — Map (db m49725) HM

Shaver received a bachelor’s degree from Sam Houston State Teachers College in 1923. He served n the Texas Legislature and as President of the Texas State Teachers Association, helping to create the State's Teacher-Retirement System. Shaver received . . . — — Map (db m66317) HM

This building was completed in 1899 and was used until the courthouse and the third floor were destroyed by fire early on the morning of December 24th 1968. No records were lost in the fire and later that day all the county offices were moved to an . . . — — Map (db m72593) HM

Elliott Bowers entered Sam Houston State Teachers College in 1937 and completed his bachelor’s and master's degrees in Music by 1942. He earned a doctorate in Educational Administration at the University of Houston in 1959. After military service in . . . — — Map (db m66316) HM

Organized by the Presbytery of the Brazos in June 1848, the First Presbyterian Church of Huntsville began with one elder and ten members. Early worship services were held in the county courthouse, the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and the chapel . . . — — Map (db m111152) HM

One of 25 lodges started during the Republic of Texas, Forrest Lodge No. 19, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, was chartered on Jan. 11, 1844. It is the eighth oldest lodge in Texas. Among its early members were Sam Houston and Texas historian . . . — — Map (db m111850) HM

A native Texan, Lowman saw World War I military service before attaining a bachelor's degree at Southwest State Teachers College in 1923, a master's degree at the University of Texas, and the Doctor of Philosophy degree at the University of Chicago . . . — — Map (db m66319) HM

Estill was valedictorian of the Sam Houston Normal Institute's first senior class in 1880 and spent 55 years on campus as student, faculty member, and president. He authored early United States history texts for public-school students in southern . . . — — Map (db m66318) HM

Built in 1880 as lodge hall. First floor soon became a dry goods and grocery store, and second was made into a fine theater by owner, John Henry (1828-97). Here traveling troupes played Shakespeare and dramas of the times. Famous magician Hermann . . . — — Map (db m29241) HM

James Addison Baker was born to Jane Saxton and Elijah Adam Baker on March 3, 1821 near Huntsville, Alabama. He was admitted to the bar in 1843 and wed Caroline Hightower in 1849. She died in 1852, and he moved that year to join her family . . . — — Map (db m111088) HM

Born a slave and reared on the Alabama plantation of the Lea family, Joshua Houston was brought to Texas in 1840 by Margaret Lea and Sam Houston. During the years after the Civil War, he became a prominent businessman and respected community leader. . . . — — Map (db m8079) HM

Margaret Moffette Lea was born on her family’s farm in Pleasant Valley, near Marion, Alabama. She graduated from Judson Female Institute in Marion in 1837, and in 1839 she met General Sam Houston. Houston, who had completed his term as the first . . . — — Map (db m22031) HM

This cemetery existed as early as 1846, for three graves were placed here that year. Pleasant Gray, Huntsville's founder, deeded in 1847 a 1,600-square foot plot at this site. The original tract has been greatly enlarged by other donations from . . . — — Map (db m8074) HM

Old Gibbs Store, oldest business in Texas under original ownership and on first site. Established 1841 in Republic of Texas by Thomas Gibbs. Building erected in 1847 after Sanford Saint John Gibbs joined firm. General Sam Houston was steady customer . . . — — Map (db m111867) HM

First permanent structure built by state of Texas for teacher training--when Joseph Baldwin was president of Sam Houston Normal Institute, L. S. Ross was governor, and A. T. McKinney was chairman of the S.H.N.I. local board. Cornerstone was laid . . . — — Map (db m66312) HM

Dr. Rufus W. Bailey, a teacher, minister and attorney educated in New England, came to Huntsville as a language professor at Austin College in 1855. He acquired an eight-acre tract on this site and erected a house which he named "Buena Vista," but . . . — — Map (db m66314) HM

The first campus structure to be used exclusively for library purposes, this building was erected in 1902. Built with assistance from the Peabody Education Fund (a philanthropic program created by northern banker George Peabody soon after the Civil . . . — — Map (db m66313) HM

Born March 2, 1793, in Rockbridge County, Va.; son of Samuel and Elizabeth Houston. Moved to Tennessee in 1807 with widowed mother and her family. In 1813 joined U.S. Army under Gen. Andrew Jackson, with whom he formed lifetime friendship and . . . — — Map (db m8072) HM

This corner was a favorite site where General Sam Houston sat in a special hide-bottom chair to whittle small objects and talk with customers at the General Mercantile Store owned by his friends Thomas and Sandford Gibbs. Early records of the . . . — — Map (db m111866) HM

General Sam Houston is credited with having sat on this corner to whittle and tell stories to groups of listeners who gathered around him while visiting a store operated at this location during the years the Houston family lived in Huntsville . . . — — Map (db m111868) HM

Forrest Lodge No. 19, A.F & A.M., erected its first lodge building at this site early in 1850 on a lot measuring 50 by 75 feet purchased in 1849. The two-story white frame building was 50 feet square with five plastered brick columns in front. . . . — — Map (db m111849) HM

Built in 1858 by Dr. Rufus Bailey, 1858-62 president of Austin College, as a wedding gift for son. Unusual house caused such joking, however, the couple refused to live in it.
In 1862, after Sam Houston left governorship of Texas, he rented . . . — — Map (db m66315) HM

Sam Houston died of pneumonia on July 26, 1863, at the age of 70. His funeral was held on July 27, 1863, in the upstairs parlor of his home, the Steamboat House, then located one-fourth mile to the east. At the service the minister read a poem that . . . — — Map (db m82311) HM

The first Walker County Courthouse was available for county Commissioners Court meetings in July 1848; the building was finally completed in the center of the Huntsville public square in 1850. Because of a defective foundation, a second courthouse . . . — — Map (db m29060) HM

During the summer of 1911, the "State Residence" built by President H.C. Pritchett was moved from its original location to the Wilson lot, current site of the Lowman Student Center. While the residence was being remodeled for President Harry F. . . . — — Map (db m66320) HM

The present monument was erected by the State of Texas and unveiled on April 21, 1911, the 75th anniversary of the Battle of San Jacinto. Among several thousand spectators present were Houston family members, State officials, the two surviving . . . — — Map (db m82312) HM

Seven Union Soldiers who died in the yellow fever epidemic of 1867 are buried here. They were sent to Huntsville during the reconstruction period to maintain order in Walker County four years after the soldiers had been in the penitentiary.
. . . — — Map (db m50222) HM

Formed from Montgomery County
Created April 6, 1846 --- Organized July 13, 1846
Named in honor of
Robert James Walker, 1801-1869
a distinguished citizen of
Mississippi and advocate of the
annexation of Texas
Renamed Walker County . . . — — Map (db m111861) HM

The earliest known inhabitants of this area were the Cenis and Bidai (Bedias) Indians. Spanish explorers began to arrive in 1542, followed by the French in 1687. The area was thinly populated by Spanish and Mexican settlers until the early 1830s . . . — — Map (db m111864) HM

General of the army which won the war for Texas Independence, 1836, and first President of the Republic, 1836-1838, Sam Houston was one of the most controversial and colorful figures in Texas history.
In his eventful career, Houston had resided . . . — — Map (db m8040) HM